All browsers seem infected by Malware. Help please: Current suggestions haven't worked.

Question

Level 1

21 points

All browsers seem infected by Malware. Help please: Current suggestions haven't worked.

I have been infected by Malware that is opening pop-ups and external websites and all forms of intrusion. I have tried a couple of suggestions indicated here such as trashing a variety of apps and extensions. After searching my apps and folders, many of the suggested "Library" things to trash are not on my computer. I am so paranoid at this point I am not even sure if any of the suggested anti virus software etc. suggested on here are legit. Even as I type here a couple of pop-ups appeared. Is there a legit protector and if I install that protector will it also help me eradicate the current problems? HELP PLEASE! I am on a MacBookPro using OS X Yosemite.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Dec 18, 2014 3:06 PM

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Answer 1

stedman1

Level 10

265,114 points

Dec 18, 2014 3:09 PM in response to bbbjim

Have you checked the Apple article below?

Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

156,278 points

Dec 18, 2014 3:36 PM in response to bbbjim

Is there a legit protector and if I install that protector ...

There are no such "protectors" since there is nothing that can prevent a user from willfully making modifications to a Mac's operating system, if he insists upon doing so. You can prevent adware's intrusion by simply refusing to install such garbage. To eradicate it follow Apple's instructions linked by stedman1 above.

OS X provides plenty of warnings before allowing itself to be modified. For a description of how this may have occurred read How to install adware.

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Answer 3

dominic23

Level 10

84,018 points

Dec 18, 2014 3:39 PM in response to bbbjim

Use free AdwareMedic by clicking “Download ” from here

http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php

Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button to remove adware.

Once done, quit AdwareMedic by clicking AdwareMedic in the menu bar and selecting

“Quit AdwareMedic”.

Safari > Preferences > Extensions

Turn those off and relaunch Safari again.

Turn those on one by one and test.

or

Remove the adware manually by following the “HowTo” from Apple.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

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Answer 4

bbbjim Author

Level 1

21 points

Dec 18, 2014 3:41 PM in response to John Galt

I did not "willfully" make these modifications nor did I insist on doing so. Apparently relying on Gatekeeper was not enough. i always simply refuse to install such garbage as you suggest. I also follow all warnings. However, thanks for the feedback.

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Answer 5

bbbjim Author

Level 1

21 points

Dec 18, 2014 3:43 PM in response to stedman1

I had tried the suggestions from that article. None of the suggested files were listed in my Finder. I went through all Apps, Folders and extensions. ANything else. (I have always found your suggestions quite useful. Thanks!)

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Answer 6

bbbjim Author

Level 1

21 points

Dec 18, 2014 4:06 PM in response to dominic23

Although I was quite skeptical at first (No offense intended), after doing a little research and, since the info in the Apple article didn't seem to apply or I was doing it wrong, I decided to try AdwareMedic. It did the trick. Thanks!

One followup question, Safari just doesn't seem to be operating correctly, consistently. Is there a way to uninstall it then install it again without losing my Bookmarks? Thanks again dominic23.

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Answer 7

thomas_r.

Level 7

32,031 points

Dec 19, 2014 5:01 AM in response to bbbjim

bbbjim wrote:

One followup question, Safari just doesn't seem to be operating correctly, consistently. Is there a way to uninstall it then install it again without losing my Bookmarks?

There's no easy way to reinstall Safari... if you delete it, you'll have to reinstall the entire system to get it back. However, deleting Safari and reinstalling it is almost never the right solution to any problem, so you shouldn't do that anyway.

In what way is it still not working right?

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Answer 8

bbbjim Author

Level 1

21 points

Dec 19, 2014 5:06 AM in response to thomas_r.

Thanks for your information. As I read through the options your information supports my decision to not reinstall. At this point all the problems seem to have disappeared with the use of the AdwareMedic and removing all the Website Data (cookies, extensions, etc.) on Safari. Thanks again for your supportive and helpful response.

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